


Three Little Words

by sentencefragments



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Exes, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Romance, Smut, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-18 05:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7301224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentencefragments/pseuds/sentencefragments
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team has gone their separate ways and they're the only two left behind to pick up the pieces. Quite literally, the bunker is a mess. Despite everything, it's obvious they still love each other, that much they know to be true. But, you don't really have time to discuss your relationship when you're busy rebuilding the city. Last time they jumped without a parachute and got bruised and bent in the process. This is the story of how they find their way back to each other a.k.a. 100 ways Oliver and Felicity tell the other they still love them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. “Pull over. Let me drive for a while.”

**June 5th 2016, 3:41 AM**

_“Pull over. Let me drive for a while.”_

_Oliver looked over at her, the street lanterns along the highway casting a recurrent yellow glow across her face. She’d been fast asleep for most of the drive, and he hadn’t realized she’d woken up while he sped down the nearly deserted asphalt road. It was eleven p.m. at night, they had left Starling City a little later than they’d planned. Now that the city was saved from the League of Assassins, they were prone to getting distracted. By each other. As the sun had set they’d traded in the scenic coastal route for a detour that would get them to their hotel faster. The view wasn’t that incredible, though._

_“It’s okay, I got it. It’s just another thirty minutes or so.” He replied, small smile tugging on his lips. Oliver took her hand in his, braiding their fingers together where they rested on the center console. The engine of the Porsche roared, the only sound to fill the comfortable silence. Felicity had wrapped herself in a blanket, the hood of the car put up against the chilly summer air. She shuffled in her head, turning her body towards him._

_“Are you sure? I don’t want you to be exhausted when we get there. That wouldn’t be fun.” She chuckled. Oliver raised an eyebrow at her and really stepped on it as a response. Felicity’s giggles only grew louder._

The dream starts to fade. He wants it to continue, tries to will it to play out the rest of the memory, but his mind is playing tricks on him and keeps repeating the last five seconds of Felicity’s laughter echoing through his head. That beautiful sound he hasn’t heard in so long. Too long. Slowly, Oliver gives in to defeat and opens his eyes. He feels hot and a little sweaty. The sheets of this too comfortable bed are suddenly constricting him. It’s the dead of night, his room in his new apartment is dark and the usually busy sounds of the city below are absent. His eyes adjust to the darkness as he throws the silky sheets off of him and takes a moment to catch his breath.

He misses her. Every day. Every night.

Sitting up, he runs a hand down his face and turns on the lamp on his bedside table. He stares at his reflection in the large window for a while. His new place is a lot like the loft, but even more sterile. Minimalist, they call it. He doesn’t care. It’s all for pretense anyway. He’s the Mayor now, he needs an actual house to live in instead of a spare room in the Green Arrow’s bunker. It’s a house but not a home.

He’s been having the same dream for a few nights now. A memory from about a year ago when they drove away from their vigilante lifestyle. They were happy.

His heart sinks to the bottom of his stomach. He longs for her. To hold her again, the smell of her peachy shampoo infiltrating his nose as he presses it into her hair. Her skin so soft under his callous hands. So warm.

He can’t give up on them. He has to have hope. With her, everything seemed easier, because he knew he always had someone on his side. He’s gonna win her back. It’s gonna take time, but he’s not going to give up. He can’t. Life is meaningless without her. Without Felicity.


	2. "It reminded me of you."

**June 8th 2016, 9:13 AM**

Oliver reads the card attached to the small gift box at least three times. One sentence sticks out to him. She hadn’t forgotten about him. Whenever he thought that maybe he hadn’t meant that much to her as she did to him, she’d take him by surprise. Show him how much she cared and that she wasn’t ready to give up on them. That there was still hope for them.

 _‘Dear Oliver,_  
I realized I never properly congratulated you on your new job, Mister Mayor. And in the craziness, your birthday came and went without even a small celebration. I saw this the other day and for obvious reasons, it reminded me of you..  
\- Felicity’

He suddenly understands why his assistant had been so chipper, more so than usual, when he walked into the office that morning. Ever since Erika and Felicity met, his PA had seemed more at ease on the job. She was less tense and nervous around him compared to when she started a few weeks ago and he started noticing she was copying things Felicity used to do when she had the position at the former Queen Consolidated. She planned his meetings conveniently and before noon, so that if he had to run off unexpectedly, he didn’t have to come up with questionable excuses. It was a trick Felicity had come up with, and he didn’t doubt she was behind the sudden change in scheduling. Not that Erika had a clue about the reason for his distaste for afternoon obligations.

However, what stood out the most was the places she’d order his lunches from. One after the other were hidden gems he’d discovered with Felicity when they’d just come back from Ivy Town. His passion for cooking had quadrupled over the summer and with her by his side, they’d strolled around town trying new restaurants. At lunchtime, Erika always walked in with a bag from one of their favorite places. That was definitely on Felicity.

Slowly, Oliver lifts the lid of the box, revealing a beautiful silver tie bar. In the shape of an arrow. He has to smile at that. Subtlety never was her strong suit. He recalls the countless times she’d made incidental sexual innuendos and chuckles a little. He misses that carelessness in her. He misses the blush spreading across her cheeks and the slight panic in her eyes as her words registered with her brain. She thinks it’s an embarrassing personality flaw, he thinks it's utterly endearing. It brings a much needed lightness to their lives. Especially once the innuendos weren’t so accidental anymore and they could actually act upon her words. Now those were the fun times. Mostly he just misses her. She’s not gone, she stayed by his side when everyone else was gone but not in the way he wants her to be. And that’s his own stupid fault.

He allows his index finger to trail from the carefully crafted arrowhead along the shaft to the detailed fletching. It’s a real piece of art to say the least. He’s gonna wear it to the ceremony next week. It’s befitting of the occasion. He won’t be wearing his suit made of green leather, but it’ll go perfectly with his green tie.


	3. "Have a good day at work."

**June 10th 2016, 5:56 AM**

"Have a good day at work."

He smiles at her. He’s not sure she can see in the dim lighting of the bunker – the wiring is still faulty and this morning was one of those times the electricity faltered- but it didn’t matter, the smile was more for him anyways. They only have the emergency lighting to rely on right now. Rebuilding the bunker with just two people is taking longer than expected. Most of the mess is taken care of, no more broken glass lying around or tipped furniture and stray files. But the casings are still missing their doors, they haven’t managed to secure the ring of lights hanging above Felicity’s station back to the ceiling and there’s exposed wiring pretty much everywhere. Felicity was crouched down next to the meter box in the back somewhere when she called out for him. Her head pops up from where she’s sitting to wave him goodbye for the night. Or is it day? They’ve been here all night, it gets confusing. 

“Dinner at Lyla’s tonight. Don’t be late!” She reminds him with her hands full of tools.

“Of course not, I’m making lasagna.” He chuckles.

His trained eye however does spot the small upward tug on her lips in the distance. It’s her favorite. He knows that. That’s why he offered to make it for dinner.

“I’ll be there at seven.” He says, picking up a stack of files and putting the paperwork in his briefcase. He owns a briefcase now. Felicity insisted. _‘What kind of mayor doesn’t have a briefcase?’_ She’d reasoned with him.

“Perfect.” She replies, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

They look at each other from across the bunker for a moment, before flying sparks catch Felicity’s attention back to whatever malfunction she’d been trying to fix before getting distracted.

“Damnit.” She curses under her breath, pouting her lips as she focuses. On his way out, he almost trips over Felicity’s discarded heels. He decides to pick them up and puts them neatly next to her desk. When he turns around again to head to the elevator, the lights flicker a couple of times before they finally stay on, casting light all across the bunker. He has to blink a few times to let his eyes get used to the brightness.

“Yes!” Felicity exclaims. “I finally got it.” Oliver catches the little reflexive cheer she let out and sees a small fist pumped in the air.

“I need to stop doing that.” She mutters to herself.

Chuckling, Oliver shakes his head. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Felicity. You’re a miracle worker.”

She laughs audibly and he’s weirdly proud that he was the one who caused it. “You’d still be stuck in the eighties with your failed Pinterest DIY of a server set up.”

“I don’t know what that means but you’re probably right.” Oliver shrugs, pressing the button on the elevator. The doors open and he steps inside, smiling at her one last time.

“I always am.” She winks at him before the elevator doors slide shut.


	4. “It’s okay.  I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

**June 13th 2016, 1:05 AM**

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb." He mutters.

She looks up at the sound of his voice, clearly not surprised he ended up here. “It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

He didn’t know she was here. He’s not sure he would’ve come if he knew, but he’s glad he’s kind of glad he doesn’t have to be alone tonight. She’s not supposed to be here. He’s not really supposed to be here either. They said goodbye to each other hours ago. They both should be at home tucked into their beds sleeping peacefully.

He found her curled up in her chair. She’s wearing sweats, hair sticking out of her ponytail as she watches the night roll by via traffic camera. Oliver apologizes for disturbing her, but she brushed it off before he even finished his sentence. He came here because he couldn’t sleep either. He came to the place her presence lingers, where he can be around her without being in the same room. He didn’t expect her to actually be here. Even though Damien Darhk is dead, but he’s very much alive in Oliver’s subconscious. Every time he closes his eyes, he can hear Darhk’s bellowing voice in his head. The only way he can get some rest is by completely exhausting himself to the point where he just passes out for a full dreamless eight hours. Not ideal. He’s not the only one being haunted by what they had to do to bring down HIVE.

“The nightmares again?” Oliver asks.

Felicity nods, wrapping her arms a little tighter around her pulled up knees. He can see the dark circles under her eyes that she usually is able to hide with some concealer. Oliver sighs and makes his way over to her station, taking a chair and pulling it closer to sit down next to her.

“You too?” She asks. He nods.

Felicity shifts in her seat. “It’s Darhk, isn’t it? Because you killed him?” Oliver nods again.

It’s his turn to ask. “The missile?”

“Right on.” She scoffs a little, resting her chin on her knees.

“Wanna talk about it?” He asks.

Felicity shakes her head. “Not really. Do you? Want to talk about Darhk I mean?”

Oliver sighs. “No, not really.”

They’re silent for a moment.

“Would you just sit with me for a while?” Felicity asks.

How could he possibly say no to her? His lips curl into a small smirk, some of the sparkle back in his eyes.

“If you would sit with me for a while.”

Felicity smiles at him before turning back to her traffic camera’s. When she finally falls asleep, sitting uncomfortably in her chair, Oliver makes sure to carry her over to the cot in the living quarters to give her a good night’s sleep.


End file.
